[1962]DLHC1606 • May 18, 1962 • High Court
OBENG AND 2 OTHERS vs. SOADWAH AND 2 OTHERS
The plaintiffs claimed special damages of £G22 4s.0d. and general damages of £G3,000 each for malicious prosecution. The first defendant wrote a letter of complaint and swore an affidavit alleging the plaintiffs committed larceny by looting his property. The plaintiffs were prosecuted before the district magistrate at Goaso and acquitted. The plaintiffs alleged the complaint was malicious and without reasonable or probable cause. The first defendant was actively instrumental in instigating the prosecution, while the second and third defendants only gave statements and testified for the prosecution.
read moreJUDGMENT OF BRUCE-LYLE J. In this case the plaintiffs’ claim against the defendants is for special damages of £G22 4s.0d. and for £G3,000 general damages for each plaintiff as against the defendants jointly and severally for malicious prosecution. The particulars of special damages appear on the writ and also in the statement of claim. The case for the plaintiffs is that first defendant on the 13th May, 1960, wrote a letter of complaint exhibit B to the police, and in that letter preferred charges of larceny against the plaintiffs; that the first defendant confirmed the contents of the letter of complaint by an affidavit sworn to by himself on the 13th May, 1960, exhibit E; that on the strength of this complaint the plaintiffs were prosecuted before the district magistrate, Goaso, on a charge of stealing and were acquitted; that this letter of complaint was maliciously written and that the defendants had no reasonable or probable cause for such complaint. The first plaintiff...